For anyone listening to SST through Live365:
Live365 is participating in the day of silence.
More info at Live365.com_________________The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on Flying: The knack of throwing yourself at the ground and miss.
24SeVeN.FM Gadgets

"In the wake of Internet Radio's Day of Silence, SoundExchange has proposed a temporary $2500 cap on advance payments 'per channel/per station.' The Digital Music Association responded immediately in its own press release that it would agree to this, but only if the term for the new arrangement were extended to 2010 — or, preferably, forever. On another front, SoundExchange seems aware in its PR that it will have to concede something more to the non-profit webcaster, if it is to avoid Congressional action."

As noted in some of the comments, not very well thought out when you consider the definition of channel etc.

Posted:
Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:12 am Post subject: It is so close to the wire!

A wire that could cut us off!!!!
I just got this and am posting it for you to read and call TODAY and let them know how we feel out here!
I just called and left a follow up note to one of my 3 Senators. One is already on board and one yet to call!

I am really passionate about this.. I really am! I hope you are too!

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED FOR THURSDAY, JULY 12TH

Greetings,

Time and options are running out for Internet Radio. Late this afternoon, the court DENIED the emergency stay sought on behalf of webcasters, millions of listeners and the artists and music they support.

UNLESS CONGRESS ACTS BY JULY 15th, the new ruinous royalty rates will be going into effect on Sunday, threatening the future of all internet radio.

We are appealing to the millions of Internet radio listeners out there, the webcasters they support and the artists and labels we treasure to rise up and make your voices heard again before this vibrant medium is silenced. Even if you have already called, we need you to call again.

The situation is grave, but that makes the message all the simpler and more serious.

PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES RIGHT AWAY and urge them to support the Internet Equality Act. Go to http://www.capwiz.com/saveinternetradio.org to find the phone numbers of your Senators and Representative.

If they've already co-sponsored, thank them and tell them to fight to bring the bill to the floor for an immediate vote. If the line is busy, please call back. Call until you know your voice has been heard.

Your voices are what have gotten us this far - Congress has listened. Now, they are our only hope.

We are outmatched by lobbying power and money but we are NOT outmatched by facts and passion and the power of our voices.

Court A federal appeals court refused to delay the Sunday implementation of new royalty rates that will bankrupt many webcasters and force others to become more like terrestrial radio if they want to continue to operate. Webcasters had appealed for an emergency stay of the rates to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but the court decided not to do so on yesterday, announcing its decision today -- three days before the rates go into effect.

But the fight to save internet radio is not over. Congress could still intervene, though the Sunday deadline when the rates will be implemented is drawing near. Webcasting royalty payments for January 1, 2006 to July 1, 2007 due on Monday morning -- $.000762 times the number of songs played per listener, plus a $6,000 per-channel-per-year payment that would instantly crush webcasters that offer personalized streams for each listener.

Jon Potter, executive director of DiMA (which represents many webcasters), hopes Congress will do something about the rates before they go into effect on Sunday:

"We're hopeful that Congress will take steps to ensure that Internet radio is not silenced, and that webcasters and SoundExchange will find a way to compromise and maintain the diversity and opportunity of Internet radio."_________________A good sound track will let me relive the movie, I can cry over them as well. Hand me the tissues...please.

House Webcasters only have about three days and ten hours left until they owe royalty payments to SoundExchange under new rates that charge webcasters for each song they stream to each person, require a minimum payment per channel that would instantly knock Pandora and many other innovators offline, and will be retroactive to the beginning of 2006... unless Congress does something (or some other resolution can be made) by the end of this week.

And that just might happen. Today, Representative Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) called parties representing record labels and webcasters before the House Commerce Committee on Energy and Commerce to try to broker a deal that would allow online radio stations to survive in something similar to their current form, while still paying labels and artists their due.

The as-yet-unpassed Internet Radio Equality Act proposes that webcasters switch to a percentage royalty system similar to the 7.5-percent-of-revenue fee structure enjoyed by satellite and cable radio broadcasters.

The record labels' problem with that is, I suspect, that webcasting is cheap enough that operators' total revenue can be low -- or even non-existent, in which case the labels and artists would get nothing from the streaming of their music.

A deal between the two parties will probably involve something other than a straight percentage fee, but something less onerous than the rates that are, as of right now, scheduled to go into effect on Monday._________________A good sound track will let me relive the movie, I can cry over them as well. Hand me the tissues...please.

SoundExchange said it will extend 1998 royalty rates for small commercial Internet radio companies.

By K.C. Jones
InformationWeek
July 13, 2007 02:22 PM

SoundExchange has offered to extend 1998 royalty rates for small commercial Internet radio companies, just days before higher rates were scheduled to take effect.

The group announced the move Thursday, after promising during Congressional hearings that it would postpone rate hikes, at least temporarily. The promise came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied motions to force a postponement.

"While this decision fully validates the rates set by the [Copyright Royalty Judges], SoundExchange is mindful of the need to nurture the growth of the Internet radio industry," the industry group said in a statement. "That is why SoundExchange has offered to extend 1998-era below market rates to small commercial Webcasters, and to keep rates at 2003 levels for thousands of non-commercial Webcasters. This would mean that the vast majority of Internet services would have no rate increase of any kind from 1998-2010. Additionally, SoundExchange is in active negotiations with the Digital Media Association and others with respect to a cap on minimum fees."

The court decided not to throw out previous rulings by Copyright Royalty Judges regarding fee increases for recording artists and record labels, while a general appeal of the rate hikes continues winding its way through the judicial process. The judges had deliberated for more 18 months on whether rate hikes set by a federal copyright board were fair.

"We are pleased by this decision, which vividly demonstrates that the Copyright Royalty Judges got it right when they set royalty rates and terms for the use of music on Internet radio," John Simson, executive director of SoundExchange, said in a statement. "This is a major victory for recording artists and record labels whose hard work and creativity provides the music around which the Internet radio business is built. Notwithstanding this victory, we continue to reach out to the Webcasting community to reach business solutions. We look forward to working with our partners, the Webcasters, to grow opportunities across the board for Internet radio operators and recording artists."

Michael Huppe, general counsel for SoundExchange, said that he thinks this week's ruling indicates that the rate hikes are fair. "The court's decision is a reminder of the extremely thorough and thoughtful process by which the new royalty rates were set," he said.

Representatives for DiMA did not immediately return calls for comments Friday._________________A good sound track will let me relive the movie, I can cry over them as well. Hand me the tissues...please.

Luther_III
Commander

Joined: Jun 20, 2005
Member#: 10621
Posts: 783
Location: New Orleans

Posted:
Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:03 pm Post subject:

I've just recently checked, and I'm proud to say my friend Rep. Smith (R-NE) is a co-sponsor of HR 2060! (Now up to 134 co-sponsors.)_________________"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.... I get most joy in life out of music."
--Albert Einstein

July 15, the start date for new and retroactive royalty payments by Internet radio DJs, has come and gone without any apparent catastrophe, thanks in part to last-minute signs that Webcasters may be edging closer to harmony with the music industry.

The consensus among the small and larger Webcasters I've been surveying Monday seems to be that nothing much has changed in their operations--for now, at least. Further unscientific checking of Internet radio streams available at individual Web sites and through Apple's iTunes drove me to a similar conclusion: from NorCal hip-hop to office-friendly Top 40 to Christian metal, what I've been hearing is business as usual.

And in case you missed it this weekend, public broadcasters and royalty-collection body SoundExchange have reached(1) a temporary accord that should allow public radio's music stream Webcasts to remain unchanged for at least the next three months while further talks continue.

That's not to say there has been any mass return of the hundreds of low-budget Webcasters who have reportedly taken their streams offline since the new fees were announced. Or that changes won't be necessary in the near future for stations that remained up and running.

Negotiations are expected to pick up again this week among various Webcasters and SoundExchange. While that process plays out, SoundExchange has said it expects Net radio outfits to follow the rules and pay what they owe--although it has also presented a few alternatives, including an offer to small broadcasters which, if accepted, would not raise their required payments above historic levels.

SoundExchange is continuing to receive new payments from Webcasters, spokesman Richard Ades said in a telephone interview Monday, although he declined to specify from whom or how much they entailed.

The Digital Media Association, which represents larger Webcasters, has requested a meeting with SoundExchange at a yet-to-be-determined location (either New York City or Washington) on Tuesday or Wednesday. DiMA said representatives from six major Webcasters--RealNetworks, Pandora, Yahoo, MTV, AOL and Live365--planned to attend.

At issue for the companies is the level of royalty fee increases(2) set by a federal panel called the Copyright Royalty Board, which cover the time period between 2006 and 2010. For larger Webcasters, the fee increases could raise their required payments by as much as 300 percent, while for smaller outfits, the fees could climb by as much as 1,200 percent, according to the advocacy group SaveNetRadio, which opposes the new requirements.

In recent days, DiMA and SoundExchange have also been attempting to reach agreement on another point of contention in the rules: a minimum $500 "per channel" payment justified as necessary to cover SoundExchange's administrative costs. Large Webcasters had argued that without a cap on those fees, services that allow users to create thousands of distinct "channels" would owe more than a billion dollars in such fees in the first year alone.

Over the weekend, DiMA said it sent a letter to SoundExchange accepting a recent offer to cap the fees at $50,000 per company per year. The organization said it would also investigate whether it's necessary to implement stricter safeguards against "streamripping"--that is, converting Webcast music streams into more permanent digital libraries. But the deal is not yet final, as a number of other issues still needed to be worked out, SoundExchange's Ades said Monday.

On the small Webcaster side, attorney David Oxenford said Monday that his clients--which include Accuradio, Radio Paradise, Radioio, Digitally Imported Radio, and 3wk Radio--are still streaming music as usual. They are continuing their negotiations with SoundExchange on a more informal path, with ongoing conversations but no formal meetings or timetable scheduled, he added.

Any agreement with SoundExchange that ultimately emerges--involving his clients or anyone else--would have to be ratified by the copyright panel or another governmental body, Oxenford said in a recent blog entry.(3)

(1)-http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9744588-7.html
(2)-http://news.com.com/FAQ+Net+radios+mixed+signals/2100-1027_3-6196666.html
(3)-http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/archives/internet-radio-its-july-15th-whats-a-webcaster-to-do.html_________________A good sound track will let me relive the movie, I can cry over them as well. Hand me the tissues...please.

soundtrackradio
Ensign

Joined: Nov 26, 2003
Member#: 3797
Posts: 36
Location: Australia

Posted:
Tue Sep 04, 2007 4:50 am Post subject:

Does this royalty law affect other webcasters outside the USA and Canada?

I can see many webcasters going underground. My show is mostly talk; promos; sound effects and the odd music track here and there(remixed). _________________Soudtrackradio is Go!

Just got a letter from SaveNetRadio Campaign. Seems there is a big Pow Wow Wednesday morning. They asked me to call one specific congressman in my state. Just called her, to let her know about the meeting and hope she would be there. The guy who answered the phone said he would pass it along, and I asked him if he knew what internet radio was. He assured me he did. Too many folks still do not know about it.

So heads up.. be on the look out to see what happens Wed. Oct. 24th.

C.

From my letter...
"Thank you once again for your support of the SaveNetRadio Campaign. On Wednesday morning, the Senate Commerce Committee will meet to hold a hearing on the future of radio in the United States. Representatives from broadcast radio, music industry, and Internet radio will testify before the committee about the current state of the radio industry and how royalty fees and other issues, like competition and innovation, affect the future of the industry. This is an unprecedented opportunity for Internet radio to explain its value to Congress, and we need your help to make sure they are listening."_________________A good sound track will let me relive the movie, I can cry over them as well. Hand me the tissues...please.

soundtrackradio
Ensign

Joined: Nov 26, 2003
Member#: 3797
Posts: 36
Location: Australia

Posted:
Sat Nov 17, 2007 2:56 am Post subject:

Anymore developments on this subject? _________________Soudtrackradio is Go!